Exploring the Bounds of Normal

I'm trying something a little different this time around. Of course, it's a love story with a happy ending, but it also contains a little magic and some actual science. Each chapter has its own prologue containing factual science type information that I hope helps give the story a unique flavor while helping move things along.

Standard disclaimers apply, etc., etc., etc.

Enjoy and please leave a comment when you're done.

Part 1.

There're all kinds of crazy things in this world. Just go to Walmart at 2 AM and you'll see plenty, but that's not what I'm talking about. Did you know there is a slug that has a disposable penis? Yeah, it gets rid of it after it mates. There's even a worm that infects male Mayflies and turns them into girls. Now how weird is that? Things like oysters changing sex as they get older and, in some species, when the leader of the pack dies, another changes sex to take charge. That's some freaky stuff, right? Fish, frogs, snakes, butterflies, birds and lobsters, hell, they all do it; earthworms can even be three sexes, male, female, and hermaphrodite at the same time and there's a snake that can get itself pregnant.

* * *

So, why am I telling you this? Well, I just want you to understand that there are things in this world that we don't really understand and that defy our sense of what is normal, that's all. It's a strange place we live in and, well, for me, it got even stranger in a very real way.

I'm Chris, Christopher Lee Thomas from a small town you've probably never heard of not too far from Austin, Texas; little place called Buda, that's a long 'U' as in you. If you say it wrong, the locals will let you know.

Anyway, my dad runs a distribution center for a large retail chain that I probably shouldn't mention, and my mom teaches third grade. I'm the oldest of three and my twin little sisters, April and Ashley, are both adorable and spoiled rotten, but they're only four, so they should be, right? I was one reason my parents got married twenty some odd years ago, and the girls were, well, a surprise. My childhood was great. I played sports in high school, but not good enough to get a scholarship. Fortunately, I had grades good enough to go pretty much anywhere I wanted, if we could afford it.

Neither of my parents wanted me working in my dad's warehouse, so they had saved as soon as they could, with a couple of academic scholarships and a small loan from my grandparents, school was taking me to the east coast to study biology and genetics. That is one reason I know the stuff I just shared with you.

I was about halfway between Boston and New York, which meant more history and culture and gorgeous old architecture surrounded me than I could stand. My biggest distraction, though, was Matilda Everson, or Mattie. We met the first day of class, different majors but both taking nothing but freshman classes, discovering our schedules to be almost identical. She was tall and full figured, with long straight black hair that hung down to the middle of her back, her eyes were crystal blue, and the contrast was mesmerizing, that big friendly smile nestled under a cute button nose that seemed to be eternally on the verge of losing the battle to keep her tortoise-shell glasses from sliding off her face.

My mom would have said she could stand to lose a few pounds, but I thought her soft curves complimented her gentle personality perfectly. Mattie had accused me of following her and I had asked if that was such a bad thing and we had both laughed, it just clicked and from that moment on, she and I were pretty much inseparable.

Even though Mattie was local and her mother on the faculty; her parents had insisted that she spend the first year in the dorm to get the full college experience. The dorm was coed but segregated by wings, Mattie on the second floor, east wing, and me on the third floor, west wing; we were effectively around the corner from each other separated by a single flight of stairs. My roommate had lasted three weeks before he disappeared, returning occasionally due to a fight with his boyfriend or to prove he still lived here, I guess. The night he walked in on Mattie and me in my bed, he just smiled, winked, and closed the door.

Mattie had been on top of me grinding her pelvis vigorously into mine, pinning me to the bed by my shoulders as I fondled her breasts, as we tried to time our orgasms, I had blushed and she had just smiled at Tony, dropping her head so her hair covered my face. When the door closed, Mattie arched her back and let out a loud moan, I could feel her thighs quake and her body tremble as I shuddered, spilling myself inside her. She laid on top of me, kissing me gently, "Maybe we can get him to walk in on us more often, that was incredible."

I ran my hands up and down her back from her shoulders to her luscious butt, squeezing the fullness and kissing her hard. "I'd like to take at least some of the credit," I gazed into her blue eyes as she raised up nestling herself on my crotch and squeezing me inside her.

"I did most of the work," she smiled at me as my hand once again found her full round breasts.

"I could make it up to you, if you want," I grinned widely, and Mattie lifted herself above me as I slid underneath her wrapping my arms around her legs and began licking her most private parts. I loved the taste of our mingled juices almost as much as the intensity of the orgasm I knew I could give her; it was something she had taught me the first time we had been together.

A few minutes later I could feel her start to tense. I focused all my attention on her bud, sucking, nibbling, and licking, I thrust my tongue inside her, pulled her tight against my mouth and created a vacuum as she squeezed my head with her thighs and erupted into a series of spasms, culminating with a shudder and a gush of warm liquid coursing down my throat.

"Holy shit, Chris, what did you do? That was amazing. You made me squirt. I've never done that before," she laid down and I pulled myself up next to her, resting my head on her shoulder and running my hand up and down her silky thighs and soft stomach as her fingers ran through my hair.

"So, is little Chris ready again," I could hear the desire in her voice as she opened her legs, "just go easy this time, I'm getting a little sore."

I climbed on top of Mattie and slid inside her, filling her once again before we fell into an exhausted sleep.

Midterms came and went, Mattie and I registered for our spring classes, we would have some time apart in the spring, but I didn't expect that to make any difference in the number of nights she spent in my bed.

Halloween was a big deal for her parents, and they always had a huge costume party. I agreed to let Mattie surprise me with my costume. Halloween was on a Saturday, we got to the house just after lunch, Mattie showed me to her room, there were two Elizabethan peasant dresses laid out on the bed, one a little larger than the other, with a few things I didn't recognize and a long red wig, she smiled at me, "My mom will do your makeup when she gets home, you're going to look awesome, go in there and shower and shave, do your chest and..., never mind, I'll come help you." she pointed to a door I guessed led to a bathroom," then I'll help you get into your costume," I was sure I looked a little lost as Mattie pulled herself close to me," you promised I could pick your costume, come on, it will be fun, I promise," she kissed me and I turned toward the bathroom, not believing what I was doing but just as unable to stop.

Mattie climbed into the shower with me just as I finished washing my hair, directing me to sit in the small bench on the side of the tub. Working quickly and diligently, she started with my face, giving me the closest shave I had ever had, then proceeding to my chest, arms, legs, and, after some thought, even my crotch. When she was done, my entire body, from the nose down, was devoid of hair. I took the razor from her and, trading places, proceeded to shave her crotch to match mine. When I was done, I buried my face there until she begged me to stop.

We dried off and Mattie handed me what she called a gaff, a small pair of panties that fit very tight and, with a little adjustment, hid my manhood completely. The corset was next and then the stockings, followed by a very poufy peasant blouse, long skirt and, lastly, she laced and tied the satiny bodice for the dress. I stepped into the shoes she brought me, let her put on my wig, then sat, and watched as she put on the matching dress herself.

"So, how's it going," I heard Dr. Everson behind me? I had completely forgotten my American Mythology professor was Mattie's mom. I stood up and spun around and, unfamiliar with the low heels Mattie had given me, fell flat on my ass.

"Slow down Chris, or should I say Christy? Even short heels will take a little practice. Now stand up and let me see what Mattie did."

I climbed to my feet amid the chortles and giggles Mattie and her mom were sharing, wondering if I was ready for something like this. I did a slow spin and Dr. Everson held out her hand," well, come on Christy, let's put on the finishing touches and I think you'll be surprised at the result."

I took her hand and followed her out into the hallway and into the master bedroom, where she instructed me to sit at a small dressing table. I could see myself in the mirror, but it wasn't really me, the bustier had done a good job if turning my pecs into cleavage and the wig softened my facial features considerably, I even found that with my stuff tucked away, I could cross my legs comfortably above my knees; I smiled and shook my head.

Dr. Everson, or Kate as she now insisted I call her, worked on my makeup with the same quick efficiency her daughter had when Mattie shaved my body. When she spun the chair around to the mirror, I gasped audibly; the eyeshadow brought out the green in my hazel eyes; she had plucked and thinned my eyebrows, making my eyes appear even larger than they were and the rouge lifted my cheekbones giving me a very exotic look, the foundation she used gave me a soft glow, the accent of the bright red lipstick was perfect. I stared at the girl in the mirror, feeling an odd stirring in my groin that the gaff quickly denied, "Holy shit, um, I'm sorry Dr. Ev..., I mean Kate. This is amazing."

She slid the lipstick down the front of my dress between my meager boobs," Keep that handy for when you want to freshen up," she beamed at me," now you two get out of here so I can get ready, too."

Mattie took my hand," So, you ready to go meet my dad," that realization hadn't even occurred to me?

She knocked on the large oak door, "Come on in Mattie," he eyed me from head to toe as we walked across the room to his desk. Mattie had gotten her raven black hair and crystal blue eyes from him, he filled the high back leather chair completely, his hair pulled into a tight braid which fell well below his shoulders, and his large hands resting on the massive desk in front of him.

"Chris Thomas, Mr. Everson, nice to meet you," I put my hand out.

"So, you're the young man that has been sleeping with my daughter," I about fainted, the corset didn't make it easy to catch my breath and his confrontation took any air I had left," and you come in here to meet me for the first time dressed like a fifteenth century trollop?"

"Daddy, stop it," Mattie was trying not to laugh, "he thinks you're serious, I can tell. You're going to scare him to death."

He smiled at Mattie and then at me as he stood up and shook my hand, "Nice to meet you Chris, Please call me Henry and sit down before you pass out," he laughed," not many men would be willing to stand where you are now, especially dressed like that," I took the chair he offered, crossing my legs without thinking about it and relaxed just enough to start breathing again.

" You should know, we don't have secrets in this house, we tell each other pretty much everything. I'm telling you that so you can feel comfortable here, not to intimidate you, if Mattie likes you enough to get you to dress in drag, then you're welcome in this house anytime, my daughter is a good judge of people and if she trusts you, so do I, and you look very nice, by the way. I think you'll have fun tonight, now I need to go get dressed before Kate kills me," he smiled and shook my hand again."

Mattie kissed me," I should have warned you, I'm sorry."

"That's ok, I'll think of a way you can make it up to me," I looked around the room, it was full of bookshelves filled with books of all genres. I recognized a set that had been one of my favorite fantasy series, full of orcs and goblins and elves and knights and lady's fair. Reaching up, I pulled my favorite from the shelf, reminiscing about how much I had loved it. Mattie's dad stared at me from the back cover.

I couldn't believe I hadn't recognized him," your dad is G.H. Everson, the G.H. Everson," I almost dropped the book.

"And a few others, he writes trashy romance novels for fun and historical fiction, too, just under different names," she took the book, put it back on the shelf, and slipped her hand into mine," now come on and I'll show you around. We wandered through the house, out through the kitchen into the vast backyard where the party would be held, there was food being set up everywhere. I counted four, no five bars being fully stocked and saw a group of minstrels in period dress tuning up amidst the organized chaos that flowed around us.

There was a DJ setting up by a dancefloor for more traditional music, the minstrels would wander the crowd, entertaining those not dancing. The people not in costume started to disappear leaving only the servers who were all dressed as house servants from some ancient royal house, I guess when you've written nine best sellers and collected a handful of Nebula and Hugo awards, you can go all out for your Halloween party.

Henry and Kate walked out the back of the house, Kate was dressed the same as Mattie and me, Henry had let his long black hair hang loose and was wearing leather armor with a huge sword across his back and a sigil of two dragons on his chest, I grabbed Mattie's arm," Mattie, just how serious do people take this costume thing?"

"Why, what do you mean?"

"Well, your dad is obviously 'Oric the Slayer' which makes you, your mom and me, the 'Sisters of Oderon', since you have black hair, you are 'Virella,' or strength, your mom is blonde, so she's 'Sapara,' or wisdom, and, me," I checked my wig just to be sure, "I'm the redhead, which means I am 'Luciara,' or lust, basically the biggest slut in all the five kingdoms of Ascalia."

Millie started laughing as her parents walked up, "Dad, he's read all your books, he knows who we are," she kissed me on the cheek," and he's freaking out a little about his costume. Chris, it's just a costume, really it is."

"But if you do decide to roll play a little, just try to be discreet," 'Oric the Slayer,' added with a big laugh.

"Dad, you are NOT helping." Mattie squeezed my hand.

Part 2.

John Locke was an English philosopher back in the seventeenth century, he wrote a bunch of stuff about the limited powers of government and separation of church and state, ideas that were used in our constitution, he also had this thing called the 'Causal Theory of Perception' that kind of said that we can never really see things as they truly are because we carry all this baggage that skews our vision; as we grow, we learn things from experience and from the people around us and from our family and parents that teach us to see things in a way that may, or may not be, how they really are; things like a man in a dress is not quite right or my girlfriends' dad knowing I made her cum so hard she squirted in my mouth is just fine and dandy.

* * *

So how does this relate to me being at my girlfriend's house dressed in drag, as a huge slut from one of my favorite fantasy novels, no less, and what does that have to do with hermaphroditic worms? Kind of weird, I know, but just hang with me and we'll get there.

Guests started to arrive and Kate handed me two bags that fit around my waist on a small rope tie, everyone at the party would have them, one bag was full of tokens identifying the holder and the other empty, the game for the night was to guess as many costumes as you could, if you guessed correctly, the other person gave you a token, whoever had the most tokens at the end of the night, won a prize.

To be fair, I had to let people know that my costume depended on Mattie and her parents, to be totally unfair, most of the costumes I was seeing were from books I had read, many more than once, or were from games I had or still played; it was going to be like catching fish in a barrel.

At seven o'clock, 'Oric the Slayer' declared the game officially open. All the obvious costumes were quickly out of tokens, which I had to admit was a pretty good plan if you just wanted to enjoy the party. I managed to balance my time between spending time with Mattie, accepting dance requests from the guys that hadn't figured out I was in drag and probably a few from those who had, and finding tokens I hadn't collected.

I learned that I could not only walk in the heels that went with my costume, but I could also dance in them too, even doing spins and twirls with a few of the taller men at the party. I liked the way the dress flowed around me, there was something nice about the way it made me feel, I couldn't put my finger on it, but I decided I liked it.

I found Mattie at one of the bars, "Mattie, I think I have a problem," I pointed to a tall handsome man dressed as D'Artagnan making his way through the crowd toward her and me," Mattie, he's asked me to dance six times, what do I do? I think he wants more than just a dance."

"Chris, you're obviously thinking about it, or you wouldn't be asking me, right? I think you should go for it and see what happens, just as long as you remember you are staying here with me tonight, right up there in my room, got it," she kissed me and grabbed her drink, heading off into the crowd?

"Shit, shit, shit," I thought to myself.

"There you are, can I get another dance?"

"Listen, you know I'm a guy in drag, right," I smiled hoping he would lose interest.

"And I'm guessing you never thought D'Artagnan could be gay, right?"

"Um, but I'm not," I smiled weakly, the minstrels wandered by singing a sappy love ballad" but, what the hell, it's just a dance, right?" I took his hand and let him lead me through the crowd.

We danced until the DJ took a break, he taught me even more elaborate spins and twirls and I found I could do them with ease, as the last song ended, he spun me out and back in, catching me in his arms, for lack of a better term, I swooned, and he kissed me. I caught myself with my eyes closed and my arms wrapped around his neck before I jerked back to consciousness and pushed him away.

"I'm sorry, I can't, I have a girlfriend."

He took my hand and led me from the dancefloor," let's just go talk then, ok?" We found ourselves in a small garden on a bench, "so this girlfriend, is she here tonight?"

"Yeah, it's her parents' house. I'm living with Mattie."

"And you've never done anything like that before, I'm guessing? That was some kiss, by the way."

I didn't know whether to say thank you or to just run away; I just sat there, trying not to look him in the eyes. I didn't even know his name." You know, you'd have to duel my father for my honor if this were really D'Artagnan's time."

"And I'd gladly do just that," he jumped up and drew his foil, making a huge 'X' in the air, we both laughed. He sheathed his sword and sat down next to me, putting his hand on mine. "So, be honest, have you ever thought about another guy like that, I mean, like when we kissed?"